Given the circa-million tonne size of the Jaguar nickel sulphide resource Centaurus continues to outline and grow in Brazil’s mining state of Carajas (and various other positives), it would seem an obvious candidate on M&A radars.
As noted by the company’s GM Exploration and Growth Roger Fitzhardinge at the RIU Explorers Conference, it has got the biggest nickel resource on the ASX not owned by BHP.
It is targeted to grow much bigger with geologist Fitzhardinge “very excited”, for example, about upcoming extensional drilling to depths of around 1000m.
Meanwhile, a definitive feasibility study for the already multi-decade, renewably powered project is due mid-year.
Fitzhardinge suggested it was natural to expect capex and opex “creep” from previous estimates, with any negatives on that score more than compensated-for by the project’s increased scope and nickel pricing environment.
A post-tax NPV of A$2.6 billion at a current nickel price is illustrative.
Centaurus is capitalised at about $500 million.
